This coming descendant will be both a royal priest and a sacrifice. But as it stands, humanity is outside of Eden and things have spiraled into chaotic violence, but God chooses from the wreckage a couple, Abraham and Sarah. God calls them to journey to the land of Canaan and he promises to give them a huge family and all the blessings of Eden. Now, the blessing isn’t just for them, the goal is that God’s blessing flows through their family out to all the nations, that makes Abraham’s family like a priesthood. Is Abraham that royal priest we’ve been hoping for? No. But Abraham does meet a mysterious figure, who reminds us of that promised royal priest. Who is this? Abraham is returning victorious from a risky battle and he passes by the city of Shalem and this king comes out to meet him. We’re told that this king is also a priest, who serves the same God that Abraham does.
Melchizedek, this man’s a mystery. We don’t know why Melchizedek worships Abraham’s God. We don’t even know Melchizedek’s family lineage. But here’s what happens, Melchizedek brings this great feast out to Abraham and his army and then, he gives God’s blessing to Abraham saying, God is the one who gave him this victory over his enemies. Then Abraham gives Melchizedek one tenth of everything that he has and that’s the story. So, what is it all about? Melchizedek is the king and the priest of Shalem, which is an ancient name, short for Jerusalem. Jerusalem, which will latter become the capital of Abraham’s future family, where the temple is built and that 10% that Abraham gives Melchizedek, that’s just like the 10% Israelites will later give to honor the priests, who work in the temple. Here is Abraham, the father of the Israelites, and he’s honoring a royal priesthood that existed long before Israel’s temple or their priests.
We find out in the story, that Abraham and Sarah are unable to have kids and they’re really old, how are they gonna have a family? Abraham and Sarah scheme up their own plan, Sarah forces her Egyptian slave to produce a child with Abraham, but once that happens, Sarah ends up despising her slave and oppressing her. So, instead of trusting God for a family, they do it on their own terms. God eventually does give Abraham and Sarah their own son, Isaac, but then, God asks for the life of that son back. Abraham is called to offer up Isaac on a mountain as a sacrifice. We’re told this is a test, God’s requiring Abraham to own up to his failures, to stop his scheming and to surrender his family’s future to God. Abraham and Isaac go up the mountain, build an altar, and right as Abraham is about to offer up his son, God stops him. God provides a substitute ram that can be sacrificed in Isaac’s place. Genesis 22-14, the narrator stops the story and starts speaking to us the reader, saying, this is why we today say, on the mountain of Yahweh it will be provided. The mountain of Yahweh, that’s Jerusalem.
In both of these stories we’ve looked at, Abraham is near that high place that will later be called Jerusalem. The first story, Abraham meets a royal priest and in the second story, God provides a substitute sacrifice that covers for the sins of Abraham’s family. Both of these stories point forward to the need for a future royal priest, who will also become a sacrifice for the sins of Abraham and his family. From here, Abraham’s family grows to become an entire people, but they eventually end up enslaved under the violent rule of Pharaoh in Egypt. How can a group of slaves produce a royal priest? God appoints a man named Moses to represent him to Pharaoh and to mediate on Israel’s behalf. Moses confronts Pharaoh and then leads Israel out of slavery and into the wilderness, where they eventually come to Mount Sinai. At Mount Sinai, God appears to all the Israelites, inviting them to become a kingdom of priests.
Melchizedek, this man’s a mystery. We don’t know why Melchizedek worships Abraham’s God. We don’t even know Melchizedek’s family lineage. But here’s what happens, Melchizedek brings this great feast out to Abraham and his army and then, he gives God’s blessing to Abraham saying, God is the one who gave him this victory over his enemies. Then Abraham gives Melchizedek one tenth of everything that he has and that’s the story. So, what is it all about? Melchizedek is the king and the priest of Shalem, which is an ancient name, short for Jerusalem. Jerusalem, which will latter become the capital of Abraham’s future family, where the temple is built and that 10% that Abraham gives Melchizedek, that’s just like the 10% Israelites will later give to honor the priests, who work in the temple. Here is Abraham, the father of the Israelites, and he’s honoring a royal priesthood that existed long before Israel’s temple or their priests.
We find out in the story, that Abraham and Sarah are unable to have kids and they’re really old, how are they gonna have a family? Abraham and Sarah scheme up their own plan, Sarah forces her Egyptian slave to produce a child with Abraham, but once that happens, Sarah ends up despising her slave and oppressing her. So, instead of trusting God for a family, they do it on their own terms. God eventually does give Abraham and Sarah their own son, Isaac, but then, God asks for the life of that son back. Abraham is called to offer up Isaac on a mountain as a sacrifice. We’re told this is a test, God’s requiring Abraham to own up to his failures, to stop his scheming and to surrender his family’s future to God. Abraham and Isaac go up the mountain, build an altar, and right as Abraham is about to offer up his son, God stops him. God provides a substitute ram that can be sacrificed in Isaac’s place. Genesis 22-14, the narrator stops the story and starts speaking to us the reader, saying, this is why we today say, on the mountain of Yahweh it will be provided. The mountain of Yahweh, that’s Jerusalem.
In both of these stories we’ve looked at, Abraham is near that high place that will later be called Jerusalem. The first story, Abraham meets a royal priest and in the second story, God provides a substitute sacrifice that covers for the sins of Abraham’s family. Both of these stories point forward to the need for a future royal priest, who will also become a sacrifice for the sins of Abraham and his family. From here, Abraham’s family grows to become an entire people, but they eventually end up enslaved under the violent rule of Pharaoh in Egypt. How can a group of slaves produce a royal priest? God appoints a man named Moses to represent him to Pharaoh and to mediate on Israel’s behalf. Moses confronts Pharaoh and then leads Israel out of slavery and into the wilderness, where they eventually come to Mount Sinai. At Mount Sinai, God appears to all the Israelites, inviting them to become a kingdom of priests.
